Accessible garment-hanger.



No. s6|,947.

Patented Nov. 20, |900. S. W. BDNSALL.

ACCESSIBLE GAHMENT HANGER.

(Application filednee'. 1, 1699.

-( N o M o de l 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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No. 661,947. l. Patented Nov. 2o, |900.-

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AGCESSIBLE GARMENT HANGER.

2 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Modal.)

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SEYMOUR IV. BONSALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO NELSON HISS, OF SAME PLACE.

ACCESSIBLE GARNlENT-HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 661,947, dated November Application filed December l, 1899. Serial No. 738,753. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, SEYMOUR W. BONSALL,

a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of NewYork, have in- 5 vented a certain new and useful Improvement in Accessible Garment-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention has relation to means for hanging and packing garments with the end in view of preserving their shape, while making` each garment quickly accessible without disarranging others packed with it.

The principal object of my present invention is the provision of means whereby coats and like articles may be packed, as stated above, within a smaller space than has been hitherto possible.

A subsidiary object of this invention is the provision of means whereby garments, and particularly coats, may be prepared for packing in trunks,while remainingaccessible without disturbing such'preparation. The means which I have devised with this end in View constitute what I have termed a preliminary packer, inasmuch as the garments are disposed upon such device in the exact arrangement intended to be observed when they go into the trunk, and, moreover, when so disposed the process of packing the trunk with the garments in question is reduced to simply putting my device into the trunk with the garments upon it.

One preferred embodiment of my present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a perspective View of my device carrying one coat and showing the graduated hangers in their relative positions when the pressure is released, and Fig. 2 is a face View of the same device containing four coats in packed position. i

In Fig. l l have shown a horizontal supporting-bar at l, said bar carrying hooks 2, 3, 4, and 5 and a compressing-bar 6. The hooks are intended to hang vertically, and they carry at their lower extremities the cross-pieces or hangers 7, 8, 9, and respectively, intended to be slipped under the collars and into the armholes of coats for supporting the same. The coat ll is shown sup- 5o ported by the hanger cross-piece 7.

In disposing garments within a minimum space for transportation or otherwise coats have been recognized as offering the most difficulties in proper disposition. The means hitherto used have involved occupation of a Very considerable space whenever it became necessary to hang a large number of coats together.

I have found that by using what I term 6o graduated hangers, such as shown in Fig.

l, wherein the successive hooks 2, 3, 4, and 5 have successively longer Shanks, a far greater number of coats can conveniently be stored within a given space ,than by the use of any means heretofore known. The reason for this is as follows: The thick portion of a coat is located in the collar and at the shoulders.

It is these parts which when lying together form a large bunch, quickly iilling a consider- 7o able space. By hanging the coats successively lower and overlapping, as shown in Fig. 2, the thick collar and shoulders of one coat are brought opposite the much thinner back and front of the underlying coat, and soon outward. It thus follows that when they are compressed snugly into shape for packing they occupy much less space than otherwise.

In order to secure the coats in place for 8o packing purposes or to keep them in constant folds, I prefer to employ the securingrod 6 or its equivalent. This rod is supplied with a socket at the top, preferably of wire, so shaped that when the lower end is pressed outward the bar l is gripped between the top of the securing-rod 6 and the socket, thus tending to prevent outward slipping of the socket and bar. This is clearly shown in Fig. l at l5. At the lower extremity of the 9o rod 6 is placed a cross-piece 16, preferably pivoted to the rod, as at 17.

It will now bel evident that when the coats are hung on their hangers in the manner shown in Fig. 2 the rod 6 and its socket 15 95 are pushed toward the base of the bar l until the coats are properly packed and crowded together. The thick parts at the collars will then exert an outward pressure on the rod 6, which will grip the bar l and secure the coats in place. The cross piece 16 will extend across the tails of the coats and preserve their appropriate position. When it is desired to remove one of the coats, the grip of the socket 15 is released by pushing in the lower end of the bar 6, and then by drawing the socket forward the hangers and coats may be separated and the proper hook removed, the coat being drawn out sidewise. In many localities, and particularly when many coats are hung upon one bar l, it Will be found desirable to swing the rod 6 sidewise, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, in vorder to entirely liberate the coats. restricted, as in closets and corners, this liberation can be greatly facilitated by turning the pivoted cross-piece 16 until it lies in the 'line of the rod G, as also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The devicesas so far described are adapted to the disposition within a small space of garments intended to be accessible at all times. I have shown in the figures, however, an ernbodiment of my invention whereby it becomes a preliminary packing device, and for this purpose I have shown the bar l projecting from the surface of a base-board 1S, which may be suspended by the strap 19 or otherwise secured in any desirable location. By using this board in connection with the devices heretofore described I am able to provide a device whereon coats may be placed in position for packing and the Whole groupboard and allsimply placed in a suitable trunk when it is desired to transport the garments.

Hitherto coats have been packed singly, and once packed only the top coat was accessible without more or less unpacking the group. By the use of my invention a whole group of coats may be at once removed from the trunk without releasing the securing force upon the coats. Thus they can be kept al- Vhere lateral space is Ways accessible singly, while always in conl. A substantially horizontal rod, a number of hangers for clothing depending therefroin,each of which is successively longer than the preceding hanger, and means adapted to press on said cloth-ing for securing said clothing and hangers in one position upon said rod.

2. A substantially horizontal bar, hangers thereon, a sliding securing means depending from said bar and capableof swinging thereon,.an'd a crosspiece pvoted to the extremity of said depending securing device.

3. A preliminary packing device, comprising a base, a bar projecting from said base, a number of hangers for clothing supported by said bar, each of which is successively longer than the preceding hanger, and means adapted to press on said clothing for securing said clothing and hangers in one position upon said rod.

4. A preliminary packing device comprising a base, a bar projecting from said base, a number of hangers for clothing supported by said bar, each of which is successively longer than the preceding hanger, means adapted to press on said clothing depending from said bar and capable of swinging thereon for securing said clothing and hangers, and a cross-piece pivoted to the extremity of said securing means.

SEYMOUR W. BONSALL.

'Witnessesz JAMES S. LAING, HAROLD S. MACKAYE. 

